The Order of Chaos
by kkcaleb13
Summary: The power of the chaos emerlads is mysterious as it is powerful. That said, the chaos is about to be honed in by the most chaotic guy around, a boy who only wins when he is trying to lose! The world is about to fly by the seat of it's pants! (Also, any readers who are creative are in for a real treat! ACTIVE READERS WELCOME!)


**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sonic, surprise, surprise. However... this is not a normal disclaimer. I don't own the normal Sonic characters, but I don't own YOURS, either! That's right! If you leave me a good Sonic OC or just a good OC in the reviews, I'll check it and if I like it, I'll list it into a chapter! Remember, I can only do a good job with the characters if you leave me a good description/bio.**

**P.S.: if you already have used this character, leave the link or the title of the story so I can check it out! I'm pretty open to suggestions, so ask away!**

**Note: The better your description, the better I can work the character in. Thanks for reading!**

**(I'll leave the screnename of the author who brought me the character. If it's not your character, don't try to steal it, 'cause that's not cool.)**

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><p>At that point, I couldn't imagine just how much more awkward the situation could get. I mean, it was bad enough that I'd been pulled out of class to talk with my therapist, but now I was stuck in a room with THESE three? For anyone who hasn't been in my life until this point, I'll break it down.<p>

Directly across the table from me is the blue-haired, bright-eyed, laid-back, and somehow still energetic star receiver of the football team and possibly the fastest running boy in the world: Sonic. Sonic doesn't like me because one time during practice, I tried to bring him a drink and he tripped over my feet.

To my left is Silver. Yeah, Silver, the genius-teen who actually teaches psychic physics at our school because he discovered the field and couldn't find something to do with his life. Silver hates me because, even though I'm the best student in his class, he says that my record of lab accidents is what made his hair turn silver prematurely. Never mind the fact he puts an elephant's weight on his mind every day.

To my right is Shadow. Shadow is… ahem, WAS the star quarterback for three years in a row until the last game of this year, when he… won a fight against the other team… and our team, who tried to hold him back. Shadow doesn't need a reason to hate me. Shadow hates most people for existing. Or, at least, he acts that way. Some people think the red streaks in his otherwise ebony hair are blood he hasn't bothered to wash out, but seeing it up close, you can tell the guy washes his hair daily.

Then there's me. The new transfer kid with no real particular talents… and hair that looks like a rainbow puked it up. No, seriously, my hair could literally be described as a bag of Skittles, that's just the natural way it grows. Trust me, I've tried to make it look normal, it doesn't happen. Nothing I ever do makes me normal. Not my good grades, not the time I tried out for the football team, and sure as hell not when my therapist calls me over the school's announcement system and tells me I need to go to the cafeteria. The ONLY place I've managed to fit in is in theatre, and that's only because there I'm not supposed to be myself. Then I got kicked out of theatre for catching stage on fire.

I was wondering when a fight was going to break out between the four of us when my therapist, a blonde woman named Joan, walked in, "Good to see you all made it. I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here."

Sonic juggled two pencils with one hand, "Because there are leftover chili dogs from lunch?"

"No. It's come to my attention that all four of you haven't made any progress at all in your weekly sessions with me. So, from now on, we'll be doing a biweekly session as a group. That way, everybody here can speak freely with like-minded peers and have more than just me to ask for help."

I raised my eyebrow, I was new, but as far as I could tell, my serious mental problem couldn't possibly apply to the other three at the table. I would be able to tell if they were THAT messed up. Shadow squinted at her, "I'm not going to count on these three to help me."

Silver crossed his arms, "Same here."

Sonic shrugged, "I'd do it, but it looks like the vote is two for, two against."

Joan looked at me, "Arc? What's your opinion?"

I hated being put on the spot, so I tried to take the pressure off myself, "Flip a coin. Heads, we do it, tails, we don't." I pulled out a coin and flipped it. I knew what it would be, but I placed the coin on the table, to show I wasn't cheating, "It's heads."

Shadow groaned, "As if I don't spend enough time with you people…"

Joan cleared her throat, "Now, then. Today is going to be short and sweet, since we only have a few minutes. So, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourselves. Don't be shy, whatever is said here doesn't leave this room. If any of you talk about this session outside of this room, you are breaking the law and I can legally get you thrown in jail. Shadow, you start."

"Hmph… My name is Shadow Robotnik and I've been clean for two weeks."

"Good, Silver, now you."

Silver frowned, "My name is Silver Psych… and I've been clean for… a week and two days."

Sonic shrugged, "I'm Sonic Mobius and I've been clean for five months."

I looked at my hands, "I am Arc… and I've been clean for six hour, ten minutes, and forty six seconds."

Their eyes widened. Joan's more than anyone else's, "THAT long?! Maybe I was wrong, you ARE making progress, Arc! Good for you!"

I couldn't look them in the eyes. I knew they probably thought I was a drug fiend at that point. Of course, Joan didn't instruct us to say WHAT we were addicted TO, just how long it had been since we'd done it. It was no secret that Sonic had a cocaine addiction a few months ago(which really wasn't his fault), but the fact he was getting further away from it was good. Shadow? No idea. Probably feeling superior to everyone else. Silver? Not a clue in the world. The guy was a super-freak when it came to his body, wouldn't eat fast-food unless his life depended on it.

My addiction… wasn't really any of those things. It wasn't something I wanted to talk about, either. I shifted in my chair, "May I go now? I need to grab my Algebra homework…"

Sonic stood up, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! I know fast getaways when I see 'em, sit down! I wanna know what's going on here!"

Silver was a bit more calm, "Arc… what are you using? Does it make your hands shake? Is that why you drop things in class?"

Joan cleared her throat, "AHEM. Arc doesn't need to discuss anything he doesn't want to. Neither do any of you. If you want him to open up, you should set an example, tell him something about yourselves."

Shadow looked at me, "I don't like you."

I shrugged, "I… kind of figured, since you ignore me all the time."

Sonic pointed at me, "My middle name is Maurice."

"... Um, okay… I don't have a middle name… or a last name. Arc is my full legal name."

Silver rubbed his forehead, trying to think of something he could reveal about himself without embarrassing himself, "I have an irrational fear of large bodies of water."

"... I have a completely rational fear of anything that could kill me. Also, I really dislike rollercoasters. I'm not afraid of them, but I don't think people should ride them."

Joan sighed, "Arc. I think that they've been fair to you. Why don't you tell them something about yourself?"

I shrugged, "Um… I recently joined theatre… it was the… ONLY thing I tried to join that I got into. But I'm not upset, I really like theatre, I have fun, I laugh… I have a good time every day after school when I go. It's the highlight of my day. I mean...was... it WAS the highlight of my day."

Sonic raised his eyebrow, "You didn't get to run track?"

I shook my head, "No… I tripped over my feet… several times during tryouts."

Silver rubbed his chin, "You're a bright student, you didn't attempt chess?"

"I did… but I um… may have… accidentally started a fight with the teacher… when I showed up… with a permission slip…"

Shadow was impressed by the buffoonery, "You're joking, right?"

I shook my head, "No… those things actually happened. I REALLY wish they hadn't… but they did, I'm not lying. You can ask the teacher and the coach… they'll tell you."

"Is that why you do whatever it is you're addicted to? Because you want to forget about your failures?"

I could tell Joan was going to try to mediate the situation, but I didn't give her the chance, "No. That's not why I… do what I do. I DO get sad and upset when I fail after doing my best, but that's not a reason to… do… what it is that I do." The bell rang and I stood up, "Gotta go, got homework to grab."

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><p>I didn't go home after I grabbed my homework, I just sat in the classroom and started working on it. There was nobody around to complain, so why not, right? I was struggling with it, because I hate numbers, but I eventually got it done. I took a step into the hallway when some guy bumped into me. His arms weren't particularly big, but they were solid enough to break through solid rock.<p>

I picked up my homework, "Sorry about that, I didn't see you coming."

He dusted himself off and pushed his crimson hair back, "No problem, it was an accident. Hey, is that the Algebra homework?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I'm in your class, I'm new. My name's Arc."

He nodded, "Knuckles. Hey, I hate math, is there any chance you could help me out with it?"

I really didn't want to do it twice, but he seemed like a nice enough guy, "I guess so. Can I just grab something out of my locker first?"

Knuckles shrugged, "Sure. Hey, is that your locker?"

I ran my hand over locker number 999, "Yeah."

"Pbft, good luck getting it open. Silver can't even open that piece of junk-"

I hit the lock with my left hand, right on the top, forcing the locker open, "Here it is." I grabbed my bag and looked at him as he stood with a confused look on his face, "Something wrong?"

"How did you do that?! I've punched that lock fifty times and it doesn't open!"

"You just have to hit it right."

Knuckles attempted to hit it, but despite his feverous assault, the locker refused to budge. After a while he got mad, "WHY WON'T IT OPEN?!"

I shrugged, "Sometimes it sticks."

Knuckles calmed himself down, "Fine… whatever. Now I want to punch something. Can we go to the gym? I need to do some boxing practice, you can talk to my while I do that, right?"

"Sure."

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><p>I said that, but in reality, it's hard to talk to a guy while he hammers away at a sandbag with all his might. I waited until his fists finally stopped flying before I bothered asking him, "So what's x?"<p>

Knuckles panted for a moment, "Um… is it… four?"

"Yeah, good job."

Knuckles looked me over, "Wanna give it a shot?"

I shook my head, "No, I'd rather not. I get into enough fights as it is."

"Boxing isn't like that. In boxing, you're SUPPOSED to hit the other guy. Come on, one punch isn't going to kill you."

I frowned, "I have a really bad feeling that something really bad will happen if I do this."

"Just do it. What could happen?"

I sighed... then I punched the bag with one really hard hit. I felt my knuckles burn a little bit as the stress of the bag collided with my fist. But then... the burning stopped, as the stress on the strings caused them to give way and the sand spewed onto the floor. Then I held my hands up defensively, "I am so sorry... I must've hit the sweet spot on it... I'll pay for it and clean it up, I swear-"

Knuckles laughed really loud as he walked past the mess and opened up a closet full of punching bags, "I can't tell you how many of these things I've broken! Still, even if it was a lucky shot, it takes a little muscle to bust one of these suckers. Tell you what, with your talent for lucky shots, you'd make a good boxer!"

I shook my head, "No... I tried to get into the boxing team... I uh... might have accidentally punched the coach..."

"HAHAHAHAHA! Ah... that's too funny... anyway, I'll put in a good word for you, think you could make it to practice tomorrow at five?"

"Um... m-maybe... depends, do I need to buy anything? I don't really have any cash to spend on it..."

Knuckles patted my back, "Don't worry about it! It doesn't cost a thing, you're fine. Just get pumped and be ready to go all-out!"

I rubbed the back of my head, "... Thank you, Knuckles. This really means a lot to me... I-I have a hard time making friends..."

"Really? A guy like you?"

"I... have a bad habbit of... messing up things that are supposed to be easy. Like... not punching a coach... or carrying a water bottle... or holding a glass jar."

"Don't sweat it. I can tell you're a good guy. You wouldn't hurt a fly. Unless that fly started a fight with you."

"Thanks?"

"It's a compliment. If you need help with friends, I know a guy who's good with people. He should be coming by in a minute or two. Care to stick around? He's a bit of a jerk, but he tries not to be."

I smiled politely, "Actually, I have someplace to be, I'll be back tomorrow, promise. I just-"

"Hey Knuckles! You ready for a beatdown-" Sonic barged into the room, his belligerent tone quickly quieted down when he saw me, "YOU'RE here. Why are you here?"

Knuckles stepped in, "I asked him to help me with my Algebra. Then I convinced him to give boxing a try."

Sonic eyed me suspiciously, still uncertain of what to think of me, "... He any good?"

"He busted the sandbag with a good hit."

"Could've been a lucky shot."

"Still takes a little omph."

"... You a 'roider?"

I crossed my arms, "No. I don't use steroids."

Knuckles was mad, "Hey, that's uncalled for."

"Knuckles, it's okay. It's not his fault. It's mine."

"What?"

"Sonic, do you mind if I tell him?"

Sonic shook his head, "I don't mind if you don't."

"Knuckles... I have an addiction problem. Sonic was in therapy with me today. I can't say anything else about therapy today... but if you want to ask me anything or you just want me to leave... I will..."

Knuckles raised his eyebrow, "Sonic had problems when I met him too. At least you admitted it. What are you addicted to?"

I shuddered... talking about it still bothered me, but talking about it made it objective. Internalized pain is pain you can't fix, external pain is a lot easier to deal with, "I... have... a problem... with..." I panted as my heart sped up. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. They were only words, saying them wasn't going to kill me, "M-My life... I... I am... addicted too..."

Now I was trembling. I wasn't focusing on the words, I was thinking about what they meant. The shame and guilt that weighed my heart down and anchored the words into my throat. Tears clouded my eyes as pain clouded my mind. I couldn't finish the sentence. I felt like the world was on top of my chest. Sonic put his hand on my shoulder, "Hey. It's okay. Nothing is going to happen to you. There is nothing wrong with you. You can say it, because it can only have power over you as long as you let it. Don't let it control you. Just say it."

He was right. His words helped me feel well enough to just speak, "Adrenaline...the rush... I think about it... all the time… I don't sleep… I don't eat… I just need... need to feel that rush... and I'm in therapy because I jumped off a cliff."

Knuckles patted my back, "Hey, don't sweat it. You don't do drugs, right? You can still box. And if you ever need someone to talk to or something like that, just give me a call, alright?"

I was still a little shaky, the feeling of throwing a secret you kept for several years into the air isn't one you can just get used to after the first try. Still, I felt better knowing that they knew. I didn't feel like I was hiding anything from them anymore. Sonic smiled, "You guys wanna get chili dogs? I'm buying."

"Count me in! Arc? You wanna go get chili dogs?"

It was weird for me. I hadn't ever been invited to hang out before. I wanted to go, but then I felt heat coming from my pocket and remembered why I was trying to leave, "I do, but I have somewhere I have to go. Next time?"

"Okay…"

Sonic wasn't as willing to drop it, "Where do you have to be?"

So much for not hiding anything. Maybe I should've told him the truth, "I lost something and I think I know where it is."

"Where is it? I'll run, grab it, and then we can go grab chili dogs."

I bit my lip, should've figured he would try to help out, "I don't know… exactly where."

"Just tell me what it is and where you think it is."

I was starting to panic when my phone started ringing. Saved by the bell. I answered it quickly, "Hello?"

On the other end of the phone was Joan, who sounded a little concerned, "Arc? Where are you? I just stopped by your house to check up on you and you're not there."

"I'm at the school. I had to grab my homework and then I ran into Knuckles, never mind, what's up?"

"Knuckles? Are you going to take up boxing?"

"I'm gonna try to… again. Knuckles said he would help me try to get onto the team."

"That's great! But that's not why I'm calling. I called because I found that ruby you were looking for in the jewelry store! I don't think you'll be able to afford it, though. That thing is huge!"

"I know, but I think I can trade something for it. What store was it again?"

"Rouge's Treasury."

"Perfect. Thanks, I gotta go now."

"See you tomorrow."

"See you then, bye." I hung up the phone and looked at Sonic, "Um… thing, I have to go take care of it. Next time, I promise, I'll buy the chili dogs!" I ran out and hoped that it would still be there when I got to the store.

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><p>There it was. The biggest ruby that I'd ever laid eyes on. That sucker was big enough that if I were able to reach through the glass and hold it, it would take up my entire hand. I was staring at it when a girl waved her hand in front of my eyes. She was very attractive, her tan skin complimenting her bleach-blonde hair, not to mention she was wearing a very… tight dress that showed of her… jewels, "You going to buy something or just fog up the glass?"<p>

I looked at her nametag to see it read 'Rouge', which was odd, because she was about my age. I pointed at the ruby, "How much?"

"Honey, if you need to ask-"

"Just tell me how much."

"Forty million dollars."

"Can I convince you to reserve it for me?"

"If you can show me ten million dollars."

"What if I show you something of equal value? Would you reserve it for me then?"

"If you could show me something as valuable as that ruby, I'd slap a name tag with your name written on it on the display case."

I reached into my bag and pulled out an emerald that looked exactly like the ruby in every sense of the word. The only difference between the two gems was that the emerald was green, "This good enough?"

Rouge was shocked, but she slowly took the emerald in her hands, "T-This is…"

"Will you reserve the ruby?"

Rouge looked at it with a tiny scope, making sure it was real, "T-This is a real emerald…"

I nodded, "Will you reserve the ruby?"

"W-Where did you find this?"

"Rouge, focus. The ruby."

Rouge slowly handed me the emerald, "Uh… sure, yeah, I'll reserve it."

The emerald felt warm in my hand, like it was telling me it didn't want me to leave without the ruby. I put it back into my bag and smiled, "Thank you, Rouge. I'll come back for it soon."

"Wait, what's your name?"

"Arc. With a 'C'!" I rushed out the door and just felt the sun on my face as I ran across the street. I'd been looking for it for almost two weeks and there it was! The ruby was right there! I felt tingly as I leaped over a car that was going twenty miles over the speed limit and took a step onto the sidewalk. I'm sure that at that point, the driver had probably made a mess of his pants thinking he would hit me, but I was so excited that I really didn't care.

After the adrenaline wore off, I realized it was getting late and I started walking home.

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><p>Well, I say 'home', but really, it's just a house that I baby-sit while the owners are out of town. It's a nice house, but it's two miles away from school, so I have to make sure I get to sleep on time every night. When I opened the door, I was expecting the house to be empty. What I found was a group of cops searching the place. I frowned, "Um… what's going on here?"<p>

Shadow walked down the stairs and handed me a piece of paper, "This is a search warrant. We have information from a reliable source that there was a stolen jewel in this house. Are you the owner of the house?"

I forgot that Shadow was interning for the police. With his demeanor, I wasn't surprised to see he was running things, "N-No. I'm just watching the place while the owners are away. What's this about a stolen jewel?"

"An emerald, to be specific. A neighbor reported that she also witnessed a man fleeing into this house with the emerald. Have you seen it?"

I smiled nervously, "This neighbor wouldn't happen to be Ms. Jellinsky, would it?"

"It is."

"Oh. This is a misunderstanding. Ms. Jellinsky saw me running away from a cop car after I tripped and accidentally broke one of the headlights. I paid to have the car fixed, but at that moment, I was really scared."

"Then what's this about an emerald the size of an apple?"

"That would be a personal possession of mine."

"You own an emerald the size of an apple?"

"Yes, I do."

"... Do you have paperwork to prove such an emerald belongs to you?"

I reached into my bag and pulled out a receipt dating back a few weeks ago. The card listed for the transaction was under my name and the purchase was a single emerald with the dimensions of… well, an apple, "This good enough? You can call the store, they'll tell you I bought it."

Shadow handed the receipt to another cop to make the call, "Do you still have the emerald?"

"I do."

"Where is it?"

"I don't have to answer that."

"No, but it would go a long way towards clearing this up."

"I haven't broken the law. In fact, all I did was clear up a mess that was wasting your valuable time and resources."

"Are you familiar with the term 'Obstruction of Justice'?"

"Are you familiar with the term 'civil lawsuit'?"

Shadow ground his teeth. In a way, he respected that I was more capable than he expected. At the same time, he was really pissed he couldn't just tell me what to do, "Where did you get the money to buy an emerald the size of an apple?"

"Lottery ticket."

"You spent lottery money on an emerald? Mind telling me why?"

"Yes. Please get out of this house."

After the cop came back and told Shadow that the store confirmed the purchase, he walked to the door, "Fine. See you tomorrow, Arc."

Once all the cops were gone, I took the emerald out of my bag and just held it in my hand. It was still a little warm, like it was pouting at me. I set it down on the table and stared at my ceiling. I closed my eyes and my mind traveled back to another place. It was the middle of a forest, I was laying by a fire, letting it warm me up in the cool summer night. The stars were beautiful…

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><p>I was still thinking about the stars when I got up and shut off my alarm clock. I got cleaned up quickly, knowing the bus would be by any minute. I put the emerald in my bag and climbed the stair up to the roof. I could see the bus driving down the street as I zipped up my bag.<p>

You see, the bus didn't ever stop at my house. I wanted to catch it because catching it was fun.

I jumped off the roof, my heart beating like a drum as I fell through the air. I managed to land on the back of it, about a foot away from the edge. After it drove for about a block, I hopped off and started walking to school.

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><p>I hate math as much as any other kid, but I'd rather be there than in group therapy. Especially when the guy across from me thinks I'm a criminal. Joan picked up on it, "Um... is something wrong, Shadow?"<p>

Shadow squinted at me, "No."

I sighed, "He's mad because yesterday he came to my house and I told him to get out. And legally, he had to."

Joan was stunned, "What?"

Shadow waved his hand, "A minor misunderstanding, it has nothing to do with this."

Sonic smiled, "Haha! He told you off!"

Silver was surprised, "Shadow was at Arc's house? Why?"

I frowned, "Can we not talk about this?"

"I'm curious. Shadow usually doesn't get caught up in misunderstandings, he's very thorough in his classwork and his personal life."

Shadow folded his arms, "It happens to the best of us."

"May I leave?"

Joan crossed her arms, "Do you have a legitimate reason to leave?"

"Yeah, I have to walk home and grab some , Knuckles is expecting me to show up for practice."

Shadow nodded, "He's telling the truth, I've seen his fridge."

Sonic sat upright, "I talked to Knuckles, too. He's good."

Joan frowned, "Arc, you're aware that skipping therapy is-"

"Resistance. I know. I'll be back quick, I just need to go to practice for a couple minutes." I walked out the door and made my way to the gym. When I got there, I quickly changed into my gym clothes and met Knuckles by the ring, "So... what do I have to do?"

Knuckles patted the floor of the ring, "You just gotta win one fight!"

I really was hoping that my next question wasn't going to have the answer I was expecting, "Um... where are the other people on the team?"

"You and Sonic are the only people who signed up! Nobody else wanted to try! You ready to do this?!"

I put on a pair of gloves and prayed that I would survive being hit by him long enough for someone to call an ambulence. I climbed into the ring and put a mouthguard in, "So... no hits below the belt?"

"That's the idea! Tails, you got the bell over there?!"

A kid who couldn't have been more than fifteen nodded, "I got it. Good luck, and no cheating!"

He rang the bell and Knuckles' fist flew like bullets. I barely was able to hold my arms up to protect myself as he struck hard and fast. After the first ten hits, I ducked and jacked him in the jaw with a hard uppercut, pushing all my strength into it. He wiped his jaw and smiled, "Good hit!"

We went back and forth, Knuckles obviously winning as he continued to pound away relentlessly. However, I saw Tails flinch a couple times as I got a few hits in, and I could tell by the way his eyes had trouble focusing that Knuckles was seeing the same stars I was. By the third round, both of us were on our last leg and wobbly. Tails rang the bell a lot louder, his adrenaline pumping from watching us go at it, "FIGHT!"

I got to my feet and was about to hold my fists up when out of the corner of my eye I saw a blur reaching for my bag. I heard the emerald panicking and I jumped out of the ring, throwing my boxing glove at the blur. I hit it right on the head and it dropped my bag while letting out a pained yell, "Ow!"

I grabbed my bag and pulled the baseball bat out of it. I look at the blur and reallized it was a person in a black outfit, "Get away from my bag!"

The black-suited stranger crossed their arms, "That was rude."

"I'll get a lot ruder if you try to steal my stuff again!"

The figure pulled out a tiny ball, "See ya later, suger." The figure threw down the ball and smoke filled the room. When it finally cleared, the figure was gone, and I hugged my bag tight. The emerald set aside, there was some important stuff in there that I didn't want to lose.

Knuckles rushed over, ready to take the figure down, but then he turned his attention to me when he realised they were long gone, "Hey, you okay?"

Tails pointed at an open vent, "They must've escaped through the window! Did they get any of your stuff?"

I ran my hand through the bag, "No... no, everything's here. Thank God..."

Knuckles opened his locker, "HA! That moron!"

I looked into his locker to see an emerald the size of a basketball, "Whoa..."

Knuckles nodded, "Yep! It's a family heirloom, the Master Emerald! Guess they know what's good for 'em, 'cause I would've pounded the snot out of them if they tried to take this thing!"

"You probably shouldn't leave than in an unlocked locker..."

"No sweat. Tails rigged this locker to only open with my fingerprints. He's a genius with a wrench."

I pulled out my own emerald and hugged it tight, "No kidding? Any chance you could help me? I got a similar problem." I held up the emerald to show them when it began glowing.

Kunckles was surprised when the Master Emerald started glowing as well, "What the-?!"

The light felt so warm as my mouth started moving on it's own. In that moment, the words didn't mean anything to me, yet, they came as naturally as breathing, "Chaos is the power... that enriches the heart... and so the heart... creates chaos..."

The rest of the words were lost to me as I stared at the emerald. Then, after a bright flash, the light died down. I felt a searing pain in my left eye, so I covered it with my hand. Knuckles was stunned, "Those words... where did you learn to say that?"

I shook my head, "I-I... don't know... what... just happened?"

Knuckles put his hands on my shoulders, "That emerald... does it speak to you?"

"W-What?"

"When you move it, when it's in your hand, you can feel the soul of it, can't you? Just now, when it was about to be stolen, you heard it cry for help, didn't you?"

Tails didn't like the tone Knuckles had, "Knuckles, this isn't your grandma's fairy tales, there's a perfectly logical explination for what happened just now. I'm sure that Arc-"

I nodded, "I do hear it."

"Good to know we're in the real world here."

I pulled my hand off my eye and breathed shakily, "W-Why? What does it mean?"

Knuckles smiled, "You're the guardian. The one who will unite the Chaos emeralds!"

"The what?"

"There are seven emeralds in this world, emeralds that alone, are just gems. But together, they have incredible power. Anyone who brings all of them together is given a miracle."

Tails crossed his arms, "Yeah, but they scatter after that."

Knuckles shook his head, "No... no, not for Arc. The Master Emerald marked the emerald on him. No matter what happens, this emerald would never leave Arc." Knuckles pulled a mirror out of his locker and showed me that a dark green, tribal tattoo had formed over my left eye.

I looked down at the emerald in shock.

My heart skipped a beat when it spoke in a girly voice, "You did it, Arc!"

My eyes opened wide as sweat ran down my forehead. I blinked twice, "D-Did you just talk... out loud?"

"Yep! And now that you've bonded with me, I can do this!" A puff of green smoke gave way to a girl my size and age in a school uniform with emerald green eyes and hair who quickly planted a kiss on my cheek, "Thank you for saving me from that greedy thief!"

I was still in shock, "W-W-What is going on...?"

Tails pulled out something that looked like a scanner and ran it over the girl's shoulder, "Holy moly! This girl is the chaos emerald!"

The girl nodded, "Yeah! You can call me Jade! It's a different shade of green, but I like the way it sounds!" She stood up and pulled me to my feet, "Come on! We need to go get Ruby from the jewel store before someone else buys her!"

Tails sighed, "Knuckles, I hate to say this, but your superstitions were right. So what else did your grandmother say about the 'one who will unite the chaos emeralds'?"

Knuckles shrugged, "Just that he would breath life into them, but I can see what that means."

Jade tugged at my sleeve, "C'mon, Arc! Let's go!"

I followed her out the door, still trying to recover from my shock.

* * *

><p>The fact we bought a forty million dollar lottery ticket, cashed it, and made it to the jewelry store didn't snap me out of it, either. I didn't snap out of my trance until I felt the ruby call to me when I stepped into the store. Inside the store, I still wasn't sure what was going on or why, but I knew I had to get my hands on the red gem. I threw the bag of cash onto the counter, "The ruby, please."<p>

Rouge opened the bag and counted out the money, "Exactly four million dollars... mind if I ask where you got all this?"

Jade slammed her fists on the counter, "THE LOTTERY! HE ALREADY TOLD YOU! NOW GIVE US THE RUBY!"

I put a hand on Jade's shoulder, "Jade, calm down, you don't need to yell."

Rouge held the ruby over the counter in a box and nodded to my eye, "Nice tattoo."

I smiled as I grabbed the box, "Thanks. See ya later."

Rouge nodded, "See ya."

When I made it out the door, I realized Jade was still following me and I turned to her, "You spoke. You can speak. I'm not crazy!"

Jade nodded, "Yep! All of us can talk, but only you can hear us!"

I looked down at the ruby, which was getting warmer, "So... why can I hear you?"

"I dunno. A long time ago, there was someone who could hear us, but he died. Since then, we've been seperated until someone needs our power. But now you're here! You're the best, Arc! I'm so happy that I'm bound to you!"

She hugged me, not the way you hug someone for being thankful. No, she hugged me like she knew me, like she had known me for a long time. And... it felt familiar. I hugged her back, my arms moving without needing my consciousness to move them. They just moved... naturally. Her arms felt like... home. Not a place, but a thing my soul had been searching for and had finally found. That's how it felt.

"Hey, you're Arc, right?"

I was broken from my trance when I turned to face a girl with pink hair. Her name was Amy, I'd seen her in class before, but I'd never spoken to her. I cleared my throat, "Ahem. Yes, that's me."

Amy nodded, "Good. I'm Amy Rose, by the way. Sonic said that Tails was worried about you. Something about a girl named Jade?"

Jade smiled, "That's me!"

Amy noddded, "Don't do anything too risky."

"What?"

Amy patted my shoulder, "Keep it clean."

I shook off her comment as I rushed home to open the box.

* * *

><p>I plopped down onto my couch and ripped the top off the box. There it was... the second chaos emerald. For a moment, me and Jade just stared at it. Then Jade nudged my shoulder, "Open it!"<p>

I tore the box open and looked at it, "Whoa... what if she hates me?"

"Nah, Ruby wouldn't hate you."

"...Okay... here goes nothing!" I touched the ruby and once again the jewel of great power shined so bright that my vision was clouded. Once I was able to see again, I was staring at a dark-skinned girl with bright red eyes and crimson hair.

She hugged me tightly as my back started to burn, "It's you! It's really you! I thought you were going to leave me in that store, but you didn't! Thanks so much for setting me free! You're the best, Arc!"

I patted her on the back, genuinely happy to finally know the person who had been tugging at my soul. I smiled at her, "Good to meet you too, Ruby!"

I held my head as I felt a burning sensation in my body, then I fell over. Jade put a blanket over me, "Poor guy, he must be exhausted from breaking us free of the emeralds. Maybe two in one day is too much for one guy. We should let him rest for now. Sleep well, my savior. Ruby... don't you think you should get off him?"

Ruby shook her head, "No! I wanna be here when he wakes up! I'm gonna surprise him!"

Jade tugged at her, "Get off him!"

Ruby clung to me, "No! You just want him all to yourself!"

"Liar!"

"Then stop trying to pull me off of him!"

Jade got a pouty look, then plopped down beside me, "Fine, I'll surprise him when he wakes up, too."

They were arguing about something when I finally passed out completely**.**


End file.
